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A friend in Wisconsin once proclaimed that, since I was from Texas, I had no idea what a real tree looked like. What we Texans claimed were trees were actually shrubs in disguise, he professed. Well, thanks to the tall piney woods of East Texas, we Texans have a ready-made response for such slander.
East Texas is the state’s most surprising region because it doesn’t even remotely align with assumptions most make about the Lone Star State. Butting up to Louisiana, the Cajun influence is palpable — amazing crawfish, gumbo, and barbecue crab spots aren’t too difficult to find — and the loblolly pines that dominate the region are indeed taller than any building between Beaumont and Nacogdoches. Heck, the region’s dialect even seems like a hybrid of Texas twang with a little bayou lingo.
After spending six days driving through lands with relatively little to see in terms of gigantic flora, I did a double take when the pines started popping up outside of Beaumont.
Contrary to the plains, the tall conifers completely consume the sky. So dense in number, the pines can provide a canopy thick enough to make it difficult to discern what time of day it is when standing beneath them.
We were fortunate enough to stay in an Airbnb completely emersed within a loblolly pine forest. In fact, the Kirbyville spot is so immersed that one could easily call it a treehouse. While not technically within a tree or using any trunks or branches for support, it is on stilts and has pine trunks shooting through its terrace. The one-bedroom wood cabin feels like one with the trees and was a fascinating enough experience for me to deem it a treehouse.
Seeking some local flavor, my road companion and I skipped breakfast for an early lunch at Dane’s Crawfish and More, where I tested my stomach with some crawfish etouffee and an order of the best fried green tomatoes I’ve ever had.
Zigzagging our way east toward the Hill Country, we were making a point to hit areas that showed up as a darker green on our topographic maps, which we assumed this meant more trees. Whether we were correct, I don’t know, but the drive that led us through Kountze, Honey Island, and Rye on FM 1293 was stunning. As a side note, Kountze is home to Mama Jack’s restaurant, where its expansive menu includes the likes of alligator, gumbo, and boudin and occasionally put on a popular all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.
Hightailing it through Central Texas and into Austin — leaving Huntsville and College Station in our wake — my road companion and I stopped in the state’s capital to snap some pics of the city’s ever-growing skyline and split a pizza at the famed Home Slice on South Congress.
I visit Austin fairly regularly — I have family in town — and even between my periodic trips, I can easily detect the city changing and evolving. At some point, I almost always find myself saying, “That wasn’t there before.” On South Congress, a street once filled with vintage shops and quirky boutiques has given way to lululemon and Nike outlets. Austin, as a brand, is clearly selling very well. Despite a strong resistance to “keep Austin weird,” the new population and younger generations have made their preferences known, and it is, indeed, the antithesis of weird. But lurking in corners, and even often in plain sight, the eccentricities that made Austin such a unique Texas town can still be found. Thank goodness.
Texas Road Trip Map Day 7
Things to See and Do
1. Geraldine Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve One of the country’s most biodiverse acres in Warren
2. Sam Houston Statue 67-foot-tall statue of Texas’ first and third president, Sam Houston, in Huntsville
3. Auditorium Shores Best views of downtown Austin
4. State Capitol 360,000-square-foot capitol in Austin
Where to Eat
1. Dayne’s Crawfish and More Cajun fare in Kirbyville
2. Fausto’s Fried Chicken On the bone and tenders in Buna
3. Mama Jack’s Seafood buffet in Kountze
4. Home Slice Popular pizza spot off South Congress in Austin
Where We Stayed
Kirbyville: Piney Woods Treehouse with petting zoo and small lake
